WENZHOU, China — Thirty-two people were killed and 191 injured when two high-speed bullet trains slammed into one another in eastern China Saturday, causing several cars to derail and fall off a bridge.
A power outage triggered by a lightning strike caused one train to stall — only for another to ram into its rear, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The crash sent two carriages packed with passengers tumbling from a bridge. Images of the wreck showed one car dangling precariously from the elevated stretch of track, while the other had fallen between 22 and 33 yards (20 to 30 meters) into a viaduct.
“The train suddenly shook violently, casting luggage all around,” radio host Liu Hongtao, who was on board the second train, said in an interview with China Central Television. “Passengers cried for help but no crew responded,” he added.
The passenger train number D3115 was traveling from the provincial capital of Hangzhou to Wenzhou when it came off the rails at the Shuangyu Town section in the city of Wenzhou at around 8:50pm local time.
The first four cars of the second high-speed train, number D3101, also came off the tracks as it slammed into the stalled train that was blocking its path, according to reports.
According to a railway official cited by a local TV news blog, the train, traveling in front, stalled because it had been struck by lightning. But other reports stated it may not have been a direct hit on the train, according to AFP.
Passengers and others helped emergency workers with rescue operations.
“We were trapped in the coach for more than one hour before five of us broke the window and crawled out,” said a 40-year-old man who had been riding in one of the cars that fell.
The group of five then pulled an elderly man, who died a short time later, and a woman out of the carriage, according to Xinhua.
“I’m touched by the volunteers who accompanied me all the way down the hill … I saw hundreds of ambulances in the town,” another passenger from train D3115 posted on his blog.
Several of the passengers said they saw frequent lightning.
The provincial health department dispatched four emergency medical teams and Wenzhou residents were called on to donate blood.
Minister of Railways Sheng Guangzu called for an in-depth investigation into the accident.
High-speed bullet trains in China are capable of reaching 218 miles per hour (350 kilometers per hour). The model of train damaged in Saturday’s crash averages speeds of 95 mph (150 kph).